Coronavirus lockdowns: Pakistan TV channels misquote WHO official

By Web Desk Staff On Mar 23, 2020

Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday said Pakistan couldn’t afford a complete lockdown amid the coronavirus outbreak, as southern province of Sindh went into a partial lockdown.

Shortly after PM’s speech, Pakistani social media was flooded with screenshot of a Khaleej Times report titled “WHO advises against lockdowns, virus may resurge later”.

The report attributed the statement to the World Health Organization’s Mike Ryan.

Hours later Dawn News and a few other local broadcasters also referred to the WHO official’s statement against lockdowns.

It later turned out that the Khaleej Times article doing the rounds on social media had misquoted Ryan’s interview BBC.

What he actually said during the interview was that lockdowns alone are not enough to curb the virus, calling for more comprehensive strategy like aggressive testing.

This article is doing the rounds after PM’s speech – Dr Rashid also referred to it on GEO just now

It misquotes a BBC interview with WHO’s Mike Ryan, who actually says: Lockdowns *alone* not enough -should be part of a more comprehensive strategy that includes aggressive testing pic.twitter.com/B2kyeYEDt0
— Reema Omer (@reema_omer) March 22, 2020